Roundtable: Extend Bush-era tax cuts?

Tuesday

Community Roundtable writers last week had plenty to say on whether to extend the Bush-era tax cuts.

Some say extend the tax cuts to spur investment, while others say the tax cuts haven't really worked. Yet others say reinstate the taxes for the wealthy, but not for the middle class.

What should Congress do about Bush-era tax cuts set to expire at the end of the year?

Let people invest as they wish
Rule 1. Don’t raise taxes in a recession — especially on those who own the businesses that create jobs.

But there is something more cynical in the proposal to raise taxes “on the very rich.” Even the president admits that keeping the current rates would “cost” the government $700 million over 10 years. Does that figure sound familiar? That’s about what Obama squandered on his ill-conceived “stimulus” bill over a mere 18 months.

If he were really concerned about the “cost,” not raising taxes on people earning under $250,000 will cost $3 trillion over 10 years! His proposal simply attempts to make people who oppose tax increases appear as if they’re favoring the rich.
They’re actually favoring jobs. Letting people invest their own money as they want is a much better way to get the economy growing again. The president should spend more time trying to really improve the economy, not demagoguing it. - Harry Bulkeley

Keep Bush tax cuts to spur investment
The simple answer is to extend all of them. Forever! For everyone! They have been in effect for so long that to let them expire will be perceived as a tax increase. The wealthy invest in enterprises that create jobs. Any increase in tax on them results in more uncertainty, less investment and fewer jobs in the USA, though maybe not in China. An increase in taxes on the middle class will discourage spending and have a negative effect on the economy.

There is an attitude in Washington that all the money belongs to the government. High taxes are the norm and any tax cuts are a “gift” to the taxpayer and we should be happy with it. The professional politicians need to learn that the opposite is true and that they are elected to represent the people and not spend more than we can afford. - Charlie Gruner

Tax cuts haven’t brought jobs yet
The original justification for Bush’s tax cuts, given to the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans, was that rich people would invest their windfall and create plenty of new jobs.

But guess what? It never happened, so there is no upside to extending the cuts. Oh, wait, there is one possible upside. Rich people just might show their gratitude to legislators who vote for extending the windfall by showering them with campaign contributions. But that would be good for the legislators, not for unemployed Americans.

So, don’t let the Republicans fool you. The idea that people earning $250,000 and up are small-business owners, not fat cats, is absurd. Very few small-business owners make that kind of money. The next time you are in a family-owned restaurant or body shop around Galesburg, ask the owner how it feels to earn upward of a quarter million dollars a year. You will get a puzzled look or you will get laughed at. I guarantee it. - Will Schick

Help middle class, let super-rich pay
These tax cuts were a cynical, harmful ploy from the word go. Analysis at the time — amply confirmed by experience — showed that benefit to ordinary Americans was minimal, while the gains going to the wealthy were extravagant. There is no evidence of any “trickle-down” effect that came anywhere close to offsetting the negative impact of this loss of tax revenues on government programs for the common good. These tax cuts were Karl Rove’s “starve the beast” strategy, combined with a payoff to the Republicans’ ultimate bosses.

Today, at a time when the war and the economy have pushed deficits into the trillions, we certainly should not continue to subsidize the rich at the expense of the national welfare.

Since middle-class Americans are hurting, let’s renew their tax cuts for the time being, but the super-rich should be required to contribute something closer to their fair share. - David Amor

Simplify massive federal tax code
What Congress should do and what it will do probably are far removed from public opinion. Even a Fox News poll shows 54 percent of respondents would chose to let it expire for everyone/let it expire for those making over $250,000. This is supported by another poll — AP/GfK which indicates the same criteria and the same 54 percent number.

Regardless — in part — some of this tax break has to be extended. It depends how much you are willing to let the “other” guy pay. Personally, I have never felt squeezed by federal taxes as much as I have felt squeezed by local taxes (county, sales tax, state fuel tax, etc.).

I feel that SIMPLIFYING the federal tax code would be a better idea and — DARE I say — propose a simplified flat tax (2 to 3 levels based on income and make deductions greatly reduced also). The tax code is a brick some 45,000-plus pages. But, I don’t think anyone in Congress is going to tackle this before the Nov. 2 midterms. - Stephen Podwojski

Extend tax cuts to help economy
With the present state of the economy, Congress should extend the Bush tax cuts. In a struggling economy, raising taxes is the last thing that needs to happen. Opponents to this will say these tax cuts are only for big business and the rich, but these are the same people who can create jobs and be entrepreneurs to help our economy recover.

The present Congress was in such a hurry to pass health care reform, bailouts and stimulus, which are all ways for them to spend money we don’t have. Every taxpayer in this country needs to call their senators and representatives and question them on why they don’t have the same sense of urgency to extend tax cuts. If they don’t extend these tax cuts, we need to find out who did not support the extension and hold them accountable at the ballot box. - Kevin Williamson

Cut taxes, expenses and rhetoric
Extend, enhance, expand. That is what Congress should do with the Bush-era tax cuts. I have no confidence that they will. There is plenty of rhetoric being tossed around right now in an effort to justify business as usual. They still don’t get it.

Memo to Congress: Stop trying to fit what you think you are hearing into what you want to say. We do not want an explanation for your incorrect vote. We don’t want to hear that you didn’t know what was contained in the legislation.

I don’t know who said it first — Reagan, Kennedy or Plato — “No society ever taxed itself into prosperity.”

I am sending way too much money to Washington and Springfield to enable our “leaders” to pay for things I don’t want. Cut taxes. Cut expenses. Cut anything that you don’t have time to read. And tell me how you are using my money. - Priscilla Hawkinson

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